In the buildup to the 2014 general elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised a Congress-mukt Bharat. Last month, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called for a Sangh-mukt Bharat. On Thursday, the twain met in West Bengal. Soon after it became clear that she would be continuing as Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee strongly hinted at a ‘Congress-mukt, Sangh-mukt Bharat’, namechecking many “friends”, among them Kumar.

While India’s Grand Old Party might choose to stay in denial, attributing losses in Assam to anti-incumbency after 15 consecutive years of Congress governance and Kerala to the state’s tradition of voting out those in power after just one term, the sooner they accept reality, the quicker they can start the process of reconstruction.

And the reality after Thursday is this: Congress is now down to seven out of 31 Chief Ministers in India. Six of them are from five states and a union territory that send a grand total of 15 members of Parliament to the Lok Sabha. The only large state in which Congress is in power is Karnataka. Earlier this month, the party barely held on to Uttarakhand, but given all nine of its rebel MLAs have joined BJP, they may well ending up losing the hill state in next year’s assembly elections.

On the other hand, BJP has many firsts to celebrate. For the first time ever, the party is in a position to form a government on its own, not just in Assam but potentially, in the whole of Northeast India. The one state whose Vidhan Sabha had been devoid of saffron is now no longer so – two years after they made their debut in West Bengal via a bypoll, BJP has broken through in Kerala, party veteran O Rajagopal winning from Nemom.

So, at the end of these assembly elections, is the glass half empty or half full for BJP and Congress? We’ll just let the numbers do the talking.

ASSAM

In 2011, Congress had a vote share of 39.39% in Assam, which dropped to 29.90% during the 2014 general elections. This time, by polling 31% of the votes, the Congress has actually finished as the party with the highest vote share. The BJP’s share of 29.5% is well below the 36.86% it polled during the so-called Modi Wave of 2014 when it won seven out of Assam’s 14 Lok Sabha seats. But that’s still significantly more than the 12.09% that the party bagged five years ago, which is why they are up from five seats in 2011 to 60. Congress’ vote share, on the other hand, did not translate into seats – their total of 26 is way down from the 78 they won in 2011.

The glass is…

Half empty: Congress have lost ground since 2011; BJP, since 2014.

Half full: Congress has polled the most votes; BJP is now a force to reckon with in the Northeast.

KERALA

Both Congress and BJP saw an increase in their vote shares in 2014 compared to 2011, but that just shows that Kerala knows who the players on the national stage are. Congress (23.7%) has lost votes compared to the last Lok Sabha (31.47%) as well as Vidhan Sabha (26.40%) elections. BJP, on the other hand, is going from strength to strength – 6.03% five years ago, 10.45% in 2014 and 10.5% now.

The glass is…Half empty: Congress is going from bad to worse; BJP have just one seat to show for all their efforts

Half full: First ever seat in the Kerala Assembly for BJP. Ever.

WEST BENGAL

From a measly 4.06% in 2011, BJP jumped to 17.02% in the 2014 general elections. So, a figure of 10.2% might come across as a dampener, even though it is more than double of what they polled five years ago. That and the fact that they have three seats of their own. There’s some good news for the Congress too – their vote share of 12.3% is marginally better than their performance in both 2011 (9.09%) and 2014 (9.69%). Also, their tally of 44 seats is slightly better than 42 from five years ago.

The glass is…

Half empty: BJP has lost a lot of voters since 2014; saying that the Congress is a distant second to Trinamool would be an understatement

Half full: Congress has regained lost ground; BJP has more than doubled its vote share since the last state elections

TAMIL NADU & PUDUCHERRY

Compared to AIADMK and DMK, both Congress and BJP are fringe players in Tamil Nadu. The state breaking character and going for BJP (5.56%) over Congress (4.37%) in 2014 was definitely an anomaly. Even here, though, the BJP is waxing (an ever-so-slight increase in vote share from 2.22% in 2011 to 2.8% this time) while the Congress is waning (a drop from 9.30% to 6.4% in five years). In Puducherry, though, Congress has risen from 26.53% in 2011 to 27.16% in 2014 to 30.6% this year.

The glass is…

Half empty: Fringe players in a state that’s all about Dravidian politics

Half full: BJP is gaining… slowly; Pondy, the cherry on top of Congress’ humble pie

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?

Trinamool Congress: NSS (Narada, Saradha, Syndicate)? What NSS? From 38.93% in the historic 2011 elections to 39.79% during the midsummer Modi Wave of 2014 and 44.9% now, there is no stopping Didi.

Communist Party of India (Marxist): If Congress is going from bad to worse, India’s largest Left party is galloping towards the same end. The CPM’s vote share in West Bengal, a state they governed as a part of the Left Front for 34 years, is going downhill at a rate of knots – 30.08% in 2011, 22.96% in 2014, 19.7% now. And while the CPM-led Left Democratic Front is back in power in Kerala, the party has actually polled a lesser percentage of votes (26.5%) compared to 2011 (28.18%).

Since both CPM and Congress’s share has gone down, no prizes for guessing who is on the ascendancy in Kerala. Hint: While saffron isn’t the new red, this party just won its first seat in the state Assembly.